Emmys 2012 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: It's Connie Britton's Year, Or Else...

This is Connie Britton’s year! (Or so we hope...)We’ve been rooting for the 45-year-old actress to win an Emmy for years, and she has another chance in 2012, having been nominated in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her role as Vivien Harmon in American Horror Story.AHS is a revelation: a creep-tastic horror show with mainstream appeal. It had the biggest series premiere in FX history one of the most-watched new cable series of the past year. And frankly, it’s a bit baffling: never before have we enjoyed such an unpleasant show so much!The other nominees are all powerhouse actresses — Julianne Moore (Game Change), Nicole Kidman (Hemingway & Gellhorn), Ashley Judd (Missing), and Emma Thompson (Masterpiece: The Song of Lunch) — but we’ve assembled some ironclad reasons for Connie to take the prize.Her predicamentIt would be easy for a show as bizarre as American Horror Story to become way too absurd to be relatable. But Vivien lends humanity to all the lunacy. We’re rooting for her to emerge unscathed from the doomed domicile. She’s just a wife who feels spurned by her husband and outmoded by his mistress; and she’s a mother who’s desperate to protect her daughter. Carrying the show as the only sympathetic character is a lot of pressure, but Connie rocks it.Her gamelinessWe’re sure that when Connie signed on to AHS, she had no idea the maniacal plans Ryan Murphy had for her character. In her time in the so-called Murder House — spoiler alert! — Vivien sexes up a rubber-clad man, bears twins of two fathers, eats brains, and dies while giving birth to a demon child. But Connie’s willingness to leap into the crazy with both feet has paid off with this nomination. As she tells The New York Times, “It’s nice that when you sleep with a rubber man there’s a reward at the end.”Her bat-s—t crazinessWhen Vivien finally succumbs to the insanity of the house and all of its past residents, she flies off the handle in spectacular fashion. As in, she loses all grasp on reality and completely spazzes. Emmy voters, watch the spasmodic scene and wonder, as we did, if both the character and the actress lost their marbles.Her snubsIf Connie wins an Emmy this year, it will have been a long time coming. Her last series, Friday Night Lights, was one of the previous decade’s highest-regarded and least-awarded shows. Year after year, neither the Emmys nor the Golden Globes showed love for Connie, FNL’s leading man, Kyle Chandler, or the show itself — until both stars were nominated for the final season. Kyle eventually won his hard-earned prize, but Connie has yet to receive Emmy gold.Given Emmy voters’ history of denying Connie her due, we are wiser than to bet money on her this year. But she definitely has our vote!Enough of us — who do you think should win?